Read Online The One You Trust by Paul Pilkington - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Paul Pilkington
Ads: Link
after such an amazing time. And it’s Tuesday – a short week!’
Emma smiled automatically, thinking that this was how Lizzy must have felt just a few hours ago, back in the flat, wondering how to break bad news to a person who seemed so happy. She had put on a brave face since meeting Dan outside his office, and he didn’t seem to have noticed that anything was wrong.
‘I’ll go and get some drinks. Orange juice? Mineral water?’
‘Juice would be great.’ Emma watched as Dan went to order. She slid a hand into her pocket, where she could feel the photograph that showed Dan with Stuart. Or that purported to show them together. Despite what David Sherborn had said, Emma wasn’t totally convinced that the image was real. Or maybe she was just blinding herself to the truth?
Despite what she had said to Lizzy about there having to be a reasonable explanation for it, Emma felt extremely uneasy about the possibility that Dan had known Stuart Harris, and had kept that fact from her.
‘Here you go,’ Dan said, returning with the drinks. He slid into the chair opposite hers. ‘I need this. You know, I’ve been back in the office a matter of hours, and it feels like I’ve never been away.’
Emma decided to avoid the hard questions for the moment. ‘How was the meeting?’ Dan had had a 9.30 meeting with new clients who were looking to develop a dating website. It certainly wasn’t the most original of ideas, and the market, already extremely crowded, had seen its fair share of failures over the past few years. Dan’s job would be to design the site to make it stand out from the crowd, and give it every chance of not only surviving but prospering.
‘It was more interesting than I thought it would be,’ Dan replied. ‘The guy I met, he’s got some great ideas. He wants to target the university market – link students in a university to one another through shared interests, connecting to existing social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. His idea is that it could facilitate finding the right people for one another in those first few weeks at university.’
‘But don’t people join societies and clubs for things like that?’
‘Yes, I guess. But he thinks this could add value.’
‘Add value.’ That made Emma genuinely smile, and for a second she forgot about her problems and the difficult conversation to come.
‘He also sees it as a way of connecting students across universities that are located within the same city – for example, university students in and around London or Leeds. Because they rarely ever mix.’
‘I can see the value in that. But where’s the money?’
‘Paid-for link-ups with entertainment and leisure providers in the cities – pubs, clubs, cinemas, that sort of thing. They would come up as personalised suggestions – with discounts – for places to go, based on the likes of the members.’
‘What are the timescales?’ Emma realised she was grasping at straws – she was going to have to confront Dan with the photo. But not yet. He’s so excited . . .
‘Challenging. He wants it up and running before next September, and it will need extensive testing.’
Emma sipped her orange juice. ‘So you’ll have to hit the ground running.’
‘You could say that.’ He puffed out his cheeks and looked at her. ‘What I wouldn’t give to be back in Mauritius. Just you, me, the beach, the sea and the sunshine. No worries, no problems.’ He grinned. ‘But I guess unless you’re a millionaire, that’s not very realistic, is it?’
Emma’s mask slipped as her face crumpled momentarily.
Dan leant forward, shocked. ‘Em! What’s wrong?’
She searched for the words. This was going to be so difficult.
‘Em, what’s happened?’
She wouldn’t start with the photograph. Instead, she would tell him about what had happened with Lizzy and the person with the cap. It seemed easier. ‘Lizzy came around this morning. While we were away, someone has been
Emma smiled automatically, thinking that this was how Lizzy must have felt just a few hours ago, back in the flat, wondering how to break bad news to a person who seemed so happy. She had put on a brave face since meeting Dan outside his office, and he didn’t seem to have noticed that anything was wrong.
‘I’ll go and get some drinks. Orange juice? Mineral water?’
‘Juice would be great.’ Emma watched as Dan went to order. She slid a hand into her pocket, where she could feel the photograph that showed Dan with Stuart. Or that purported to show them together. Despite what David Sherborn had said, Emma wasn’t totally convinced that the image was real. Or maybe she was just blinding herself to the truth?
Despite what she had said to Lizzy about there having to be a reasonable explanation for it, Emma felt extremely uneasy about the possibility that Dan had known Stuart Harris, and had kept that fact from her.
‘Here you go,’ Dan said, returning with the drinks. He slid into the chair opposite hers. ‘I need this. You know, I’ve been back in the office a matter of hours, and it feels like I’ve never been away.’
Emma decided to avoid the hard questions for the moment. ‘How was the meeting?’ Dan had had a 9.30 meeting with new clients who were looking to develop a dating website. It certainly wasn’t the most original of ideas, and the market, already extremely crowded, had seen its fair share of failures over the past few years. Dan’s job would be to design the site to make it stand out from the crowd, and give it every chance of not only surviving but prospering.
‘It was more interesting than I thought it would be,’ Dan replied. ‘The guy I met, he’s got some great ideas. He wants to target the university market – link students in a university to one another through shared interests, connecting to existing social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. His idea is that it could facilitate finding the right people for one another in those first few weeks at university.’
‘But don’t people join societies and clubs for things like that?’
‘Yes, I guess. But he thinks this could add value.’
‘Add value.’ That made Emma genuinely smile, and for a second she forgot about her problems and the difficult conversation to come.
‘He also sees it as a way of connecting students across universities that are located within the same city – for example, university students in and around London or Leeds. Because they rarely ever mix.’
‘I can see the value in that. But where’s the money?’
‘Paid-for link-ups with entertainment and leisure providers in the cities – pubs, clubs, cinemas, that sort of thing. They would come up as personalised suggestions – with discounts – for places to go, based on the likes of the members.’
‘What are the timescales?’ Emma realised she was grasping at straws – she was going to have to confront Dan with the photo. But not yet. He’s so excited . . .
‘Challenging. He wants it up and running before next September, and it will need extensive testing.’
Emma sipped her orange juice. ‘So you’ll have to hit the ground running.’
‘You could say that.’ He puffed out his cheeks and looked at her. ‘What I wouldn’t give to be back in Mauritius. Just you, me, the beach, the sea and the sunshine. No worries, no problems.’ He grinned. ‘But I guess unless you’re a millionaire, that’s not very realistic, is it?’
Emma’s mask slipped as her face crumpled momentarily.
Dan leant forward, shocked. ‘Em! What’s wrong?’
She searched for the words. This was going to be so difficult.
‘Em, what’s happened?’
She wouldn’t start with the photograph. Instead, she would tell him about what had happened with Lizzy and the person with the cap. It seemed easier. ‘Lizzy came around this morning. While we were away, someone has been
Similar Books
